When you think of employee engagement, what comes to mind? It could mean having happy employees, employees who are invested in the work they’re doing for your company, or employees who feel good about what your company does as a whole.

In reality, all of those traits define employee engagement. And having high employee engagement levels comes with a lot of value.

Why is employee engagement important?

Employee engagement is important because it boosts productivity, profitability, and retention rates at your company. When employees are engaged at their company, it means they have an emotional investment in the work they’re doing and the work your business does overall.

But employee engagement takes many forms, and it takes effort from your company to foster an environment that encourages engagement. One of the most effective ways you can boost engagement at your company is through corporate philanthropy.

When companies take part in corporate philanthropy efforts, it reflects well on them as a whole and encourages employees to get involved. In this article, we’ll outline seven employee engagement ideas centered around philanthropy. Using these ideas, your company will be in a better position to increase engagement among your employees.

We’ll discuss:

1. Matching Gift Programs
2. Corporate Volunteerism
3. Corporate Volunteer Grants
4. Automatic Payroll Deductions
5. Annual Giving Campaigns
6. Cause Marketing Campaigns
7. Employee Engagement Software

Centering your efforts around corporate philanthropy is a great way to boost morale among your employees and keep them invested in the work you do. Let’s get started.

1. Matching Gift Programs

With the rise of corporate social responsibility (CSR), many companies are taking the initiative to do good in their communities. One of the most common ways companies do this is by implementing matching gift programs.

Corporate matching gift programs are a type of philanthropy in which companies financially match donations that their employees make to nonprofits.

Many companies match at a 1:1 ratio (dollar for dollar), but these ratios range anywhere from .5:1 to 4:1. That means nonprofits have the opportunity to receive at least double the amount of an initial gift.

How do matching gifts tie into employee engagement?

Matching gift programs are essential for employee engagement because those programs demonstrate to employees that your company cares about the same organizations and causes they do.

Even though matching gifts are common in terms of workplace giving programs, many employees don’t know their companies even offer a program.

That’s why your company should take the initiative to promote these programs to your employees. Whether it’s done through onboarding or regular employee communications, alerting employees to the fact that they can double their donations to their favorite charities can go a long way in terms of engagement.

Taking this initiative is also great for the nonprofits your matching gift program benefits, because the more you encourage employees to participate in these programs, the more nonprofits will raise for their causes. It’s a win-win!

2. Corporate Volunteerism

Just as matching gifts are one of the most common types of CSR programs out there, another common CSR initiative is corporate volunteerism.

Through corporate volunteerism, employees are encouraged to volunteer their time at local nonprofits they want to support. 

Companies encourage volunteerism in a number of ways, one of which is through offering paid time off during the year to volunteer. This is an extra incentive for employees because they get to support a charitable cause while still getting paid.

Many companies also offer volunteer days, such as a day of service, to promote team-building and give back to the community. This encourages coworkers to get together, get to know one another, and work as a team to help an organization.

Corporate volunteerism also benefits nonprofits because of the skills corporate employees bring to the table—which are often skills and expertise that the nonprofits may not otherwise be able to afford.

How does corporate volunteerism tie into employee engagement?

Companies that promote volunteer opportunities and actively encourage their employees to participate show that they care about giving back to the community, and are even willing to offer paid time off to do so. This reflects well on companies and even encourages consumers to continue purchasing products and services from them.

When employees see the good their companies are doing in their communities, they are more likely to participate, think positively about their role in the company, and be happier as a result.

3. Corporate Volunteer Grants

Corporate volunteerism doesn’t end with the time and effort that your employees offer nonprofits. There’s another type of workplace giving program directly related to volunteerism that can benefit nonprofits, reflect well on your company, and boost employee engagement.

Corporate volunteer grants turn non-monetary contributions—volunteer hours—into revenue for your nonprofit. When employees at a company devote a specific number of hours to volunteering with a nonprofit, participating companies provide a set dollar amount for those hours to the nonprofit.

For example, this could look like:

• $25 for every hour an employee volunteers
• $15 per hour an employee volunteers, with a minimum of 20 hours
• $500 after volunteering 20 hours with a nonprofit

Corporate volunteer grants essentially help nonprofits meet their fundraising and volunteer goals at the same time.

How do corporate volunteer grants tie into employee engagement?

Many volunteers and nonprofits are unaware that the volunteer’s employer even offers a volunteer grant program. That’s why it’s essential to actively promote these opportunities to employees—especially those who volunteer with nonprofits on a regular basis.

The more you encourage volunteerism and promote volunteer grant opportunities, the more employees will feel engaged with your company and its values.

Additionally, the easier you make it to participate in your volunteer grant program, the more you’ll get out of the program you’ve invested in. One way to make participation easier and more streamlined is by investing in employee engagement software. If you’re interested in the kinds of solutions available to you, jump to that section now!

4. Automatic Payroll Deductions

Another form of workplace giving that can lead to high employee engagement is automatic payroll deductions. 

An automatic payroll deduction allows employees to deduct a small portion of each paycheck to donate to a charity. 

Automatic payroll deductions are great options for employees because they can give to nonprofits in smaller increments—especially if they’re unable to donate a large sum at once. If their employer also offers a matching gift program, those donations can even be doubled.

Most organizations are generally vetted by companies to ensure their employees’ automatic payroll contributions are going to reputable nonprofits. This will reassure employees that their donations are going to a good cause. 

How do automatic payroll deductions tie into employee engagement?

By making it easy for employees to give to reputable organizations, your company accomplishes a few things:

• Employees get to make a difference for the causes they care about.
• The donations have no extra fees for the nonprofits (like credit card processing fees) and the donation is still tax deductible for employees.
• Employees will continue to participate in automatic payroll deductions long term because of the ease and security associated with the program.

The more options you offer as part of your workplace giving programs, the more likely employees will be to engage and participate in those programs. Automatic payroll deductions are an excellent option to consider as a company.

5. Annual Giving Campaigns

The year-end giving season (generally October through December) is the most popular time for nonprofit donations. During this time, donation numbers are higher than all year round.

Companies can use this time to encourage their employees to donate to important causes. This can be done via monetary donations or donations of time. When paired with matching gifts and corporate volunteer grants, the impact goes even further.

Many nonprofits run annual giving campaigns around this time of year to raise a large portion of the funds they need to continue serving their missions. Encouraging your employees to give during these campaigns is especially important for the nonprofits they support, but also for your company’s image.

How do annual giving campaigns tie into employee engagement?

If your company wants to boost engagement among its employees, be sure to encourage them to participate in annual giving. Promote specific opportunities to donate to nonprofits whose missions align with your company values. This reflects well on your company in the public eye, while also showing your employees that giving to worthy causes is an important component of your business practice.

6. Cause Marketing Campaigns

As a big part of CSR, companies will often launch a cause marketing campaign in conjunction with a nonprofit cause. During a cause marketing campaign, a company increases its own profitability while also doing good in the communities in which they operate.

Here are some examples of cause marketing:

• Businesses encourage customers to round up their purchases to donate to a specific charity or cause.
• Businesses donate a portion of their profits to a specific charity or cause. 
• Businesses accept donated goods to provide to specific charities.

Both the for-profit and nonprofit sides benefit from cause marketing. For-profit businesses can see an increase in sales and exposure, while nonprofits receive more funding and goods that can help them serve their constituents.

How do cause marketing campaigns tie into employee engagement?

Cause marketing is a great employee engagement idea because it actively encourages employee participation. After all, cause marketing works best if your company is helping a cause that your employees believe in. If your staff supports the idea, they’ll work harder and be more invested in helping.

7. Employee Engagement Software

For all of these employee engagement ideas, you’ll want to have an organized system in place to run it. With so many moving parts and workplace giving options, it can be challenging to consolidate donations, volunteer opportunities and hours, and matching gift requests in one place.

Employee engagement software is a must when it comes to organizing your workplace giving programs.

Using an employee engagement platform, you can:

• Track and review employee donations, including automatic payroll deductions.
• View and approve employee matching gift requests.
• Allow employees to log their volunteer hours.
• View and approve volunteer grant requests.
• Post and coordinate volunteer opportunities for your employees.
• Organize team volunteer events.

These are just some of the ways employee engagement software can help keep your company on track.

Be sure to invest in the right employee engagement software that will allow your company to benefit the most from the workplace giving programs you’ve already invested so much into.

Additional Resources

Looking for even more information about employee engagement ideas that can benefit your company? Start with the resources below:

• Employee Engagement: The Essential Guide for 2021. If you want a breakdown of the basics around employee engagement, check out our essential guide.
• Workplace Giving: The Guide for Nonprofits and Companies. Workplace giving is huge for both nonprofits and companies. Learn more about the different benefits it offers here.
• 8 Results-Driven Reasons You Need Employee Engagement. There are many reasons employee engagement is important. We’ve compiled some of the top reasons in this article!

AlumnnIQ, a powerful and innovative fundraising platform, has partnered with Double the Donation to bring automated matching gift technology to its clients. This partnership will allow universities using AlumnIQ to access 360MatchPro, the industry leading matching gift solution.

“Double the Donation shares our mission to propel fundraisers forward with top-notch technology, so integrating 360MatchPro was an obvious choice,” said Steve Rittler, Founder and CEO of AlumnIQ. “With this matching gift software, our clients will be able to double eligible donations without having to manually pursue matching gift requests.”

360MatchPro and AlumnIQ integrate seamlessly, allowing users to activate this solution with just a couple of clicks. Then, universities can begin identifying match-eligible donors during the donation process, taking the guesswork out of matching gift campaigns.

360MatchPro then automates matching gift messaging post-transaction, guiding donors directly to their specific matching gift submission form. These combined solutions can help universities everywhere double or even triple their matching gift revenue.

“Double the Donation is proud to launch this partnership and add valuable matching gift technology to the AlumnIQ platform.” says Adam Weinger, President at Double the Donation. “This integration will empower universities to tap into the billions of dollars in matching gift revenue that goes unclaimed each year.”

This robust integration provides advanced matching gift fundraising automation without any extra effort from fundraisers. With this technology, universities can target the 18 million individuals who qualify for matching gift programs through their employers.

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

AlumnIQ and 360MatchPro integrate seamlessly so that you can start driving donations in no time. Simply navigate to the “Employer Match” section of your AlumnIQ giving settings. From there, you can enter your 360MatchPro credentials to activate the integration.

Once you’re all set up, your donation forms will be equipped with the 360MatchPro search field where donors can search for the name of the employer. This streamlined search bar then gets to work, suggesting companies as the donor types for a simple selection process. This field even takes spelling errors, parent companies and subsidiaries into account, making it simple for donors to be accurately identified as match-eligible. You can even customize the text surrounding this search bar, so that you can choose how to ask donors for their employer information.

After the donation process, donors will be presented with a direct link to their matching gift submission form – meaning they can start the gift matching process with just one click. This link is accompanied by matching gift guidelines including program eligibility, offered match ratio and more.

360MatchPro also automates matching gift messaging through branded, customizable emails. These messages also contain a direct link to donors’ specific matching gift submission forms, providing another touchpoint for donors to double their donations through employer gift matching.

With 360MatchPro and AlumnIQ, your organization can easily fuel your fundraising through employer matching gifts!

 

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with 360MatchPro!

AlumnIQ and 360MatchPro provide advanced fundraising features.

With this solution, your institution can:

• Identify more matching gift revenue opportunities: 360MatchPro enables you to automatically collect matching gift eligibility from donors using email domains, within donation forms, on confirmation screens, or by email. The more matching gift opportunities 360MatchPro discovers and shares with donors, the more matching gift requests your donors will successfully submit.
• Drive more matches to completion, from form submission to corporate payment: Direct donors immediately to their matching gift forms after the donation process is complete. Then, provide the right information to the right donors at the right time with custom emails based on match eligibility. Target follow-ups drive more completed submissions than ever before, bringing exponentially more matching gift checks from companies through your door.
• Reallocate your time from routine follow-up to your top opportunities: Your time is valuable, so why spend it chasing small dollar-value matching gifts? Let 360MatchPro automate your matching gift outreach while flagging your highest-value opportunities, allowing your team to personalize follow-ups to the most valuable match-eligible donations. Rest easy knowing that 360MatchPro can handle the rest.

Ready to learn more? Request a personalized demo with Double the Donation.

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About AlumnIQ: AlumnIQ is designed for today’s engagement environment: mobile, integrated, personalized, and measured in every imaginable regard. Their system delivers information – not simply data – that you can use to effectively implement programs and services your constituents want and need to be a part of. The AlumnIQ goal is to make data management easier and more efficient so your staff can maximize their efforts on constituent engagement. To learn more, visit: https://www.alumniq.com/

About Double the Donation: Automate your matching gift fundraising with the industry-leading solution from Double the Donation. The 360MatchPro platform provides nonprofits with tools to identify match-eligible donors, drive matches to completion, and gain actionable insights. 360MatchPro integrates directly into donation forms, CRMs, social fundraising software, and other nonprofit technology solutions to capture employment information and follow up appropriately with donors about matching gifts. To learn more visit https://360matchpro.com/demo-request/

As a company, managing employees and productivity can be a challenge. You want to keep your employees happy and feeling fulfilled in their work, and a lot of the time, their level of engagement with their job informs all of that.

That’s why keeping your employees engaged is so important.

High employee engagement is one of the top reasons employees stay at their jobs long term, are more productive, and feel fulfilled. In order to explore these ideas, we’re going to define employee engagement and dig deeper into why it makes a difference for your company.

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement refers to the level at which employees are excited about and committed to their jobs. When employees are engaged, they are more likely to produce higher quality work and feel invested in what they do.

Employee engagement is different from employee satisfaction, but these terms are interconnected. Satisfaction simply means an employee enjoys their job, but isn’t necessarily engaged with it. Employee engagement, on the other hand, means employees are emotionally invested in the work they’re doing.

Consider the following questions as you look into ways your company can boost your employee engagement levels:

1. Why is employee engagement important?
2. What are effective employee engagement ideas?
3. How does employee engagement software help companies?
4. What are some additional employee engagement resources?

There are many benefits of employee engagement and ways to enhance it at your company. Let’s jump in.

1. Why is employee engagement important?

According to recent statistics, 85% of employees are not engaged in the workplace—which means a large number of employees might leave their current jobs for another.

On the other hand, studies indicate that companies whose employees are engaged are 22% more profitable.

Put simply, employee engagement is important because it leads to higher retention rates and productivity. As is implied, a higher retention rate also means your company doesn’t have to deal with as much turnover, hiring, and training, which saves you a lot of money down the road.

The takeaway? Employee engagement leads to happy employees, longer tenures with your company, and higher productivity levels.

So, how can your company build up its employee engagement rate? There are many ways to do this, but we’re going to focus specifically on one avenue that has a huge impact: corporate social responsibility programs. Read on to learn more!

2. What are effective employee engagement ideas?

If you’re looking for effective employee engagement ideas, consider corporate social responsibility. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a term used to describe a company’s efforts to improve society. And with CSR comes many different initiatives companies take on to do just that.

Offering generous and inclusive CSR programs is one of the top drivers of employee engagement because employees are more likely to be happy working for a company that contributes to social good.

Employee Engagement and Corporate Social Responsibility

CSR is an umbrella term that covers everything from corporate philanthropy to positive economic and environmental efforts a company takes upon itself.

For the purpose of this article, we’re going to focus on some of the top philanthropic efforts a company can put forth that in turn boost employee engagement. These include:

Matching Gifts

One of the best ways to foster employee engagement is through corporate matching gift programs. Corporate matching gifts are a type of CSR initiative in which companies financially match donations their employees make to nonprofits.

When it comes to workplace giving and CSR, matching gifts are a common offering, and it’s important for companies to actively promote these opportunities to their employees.

Employees who understand how to request a matching gift for their donation will be more likely to go through the process and feel good that their company made their gift go twice as far.

That said, it can be challenging to inform employees of your matching gift program. That’s why you should also make a point to promote matching gift opportunities throughout the year in a variety of ways, including:

• New employee training materials
• End-of-year campaigns
• Internal employee communications

When you encourage employees to participate in your matching gift program, it not only benefits your company and helps you make the most of the giving program you’ve invested in, but also benefits the nonprofits those dollars go toward.

Volunteering

Now is the time to implement or enhance your employee volunteer program. That’s because offering volunteer opportunities within your company is a fantastic way to keep employees happy and fulfilled.

Whether you offer paid time off to volunteer, team-building volunteer opportunities, or a simple way for employees to access volunteer positions in your community, employees will be excited to step up and help the causes they care about.

When it comes to corporate volunteering and building up employee engagement, volunteering takes on a few manifestations:

• Volunteer grants. Corporate volunteer grants are another form of corporate philanthropy in which companies provide monetary grants to nonprofits where their employees regularly volunteer. This means nonprofits get two forms of support in place of one: valuable volunteer hours and financial contributions.
• Individual volunteer opportunities. Many companies offer paid time off for employees to volunteer at organizations they care about. This is a great incentive to boost employee engagement because they get paid while supporting an important cause. Add in a volunteer grant, and the benefits extend even further!
• Team volunteer opportunities. As a team-building activity, companies often plan a day of service or similar event to get their employees together to give back to the community. This can also result in team volunteer grants, increased camaraderie among coworkers, and deepened relationships with the nonprofits in their community.

Companies also tend to use employee engagement platforms to organize their volunteer activity, as well as manage matching gifts and employee donations. This type of platform helps companies track volunteer opportunities in the greater community around their business, get employees signed up, and keep them engaged in the company’s culture of giving.

Looking to learn more about employee engagement software? Jump to that section now!

Other CSR Initiatives

Beyond matching gifts and corporate volunteerism, there are several other types of CSR initiatives that encourage employee engagement and participation.

Among the most common are workplace giving programs like automatic payroll deductions, annual giving campaigns, and other opportunities to donate to good causes. 

Through these company-sponsored programs, nonprofits are vetted and can build solid relationships with companies and their employees. Employees can rest assured that they’re donating to a worthy cause, and nonprofits get the support they deserve. Meanwhile, companies can get the most out of the giving programs they invested in.

Out of all the employee engagement ideas out there, focusing on corporate philanthropy and workplace giving, as well as other corporate social responsibility programs, will help your employees feel fulfilled and happy working for your company. Knowing that your company cares about the same causes they care about will keep them engaged and invested in the work they do for you.

3. How does employee engagement software help companies?

Having highly engaged employees is great, right? When you offer opportunities for employees to get involved in helping important causes, everyone will benefit.

But how can you effectively keep track of and manage all of these programs?

Tracking workplace giving programs and volunteer opportunities might sound like spreadsheets upon spreadsheets and lots of data entry. But there’s another way your company can manage your employees’ activity, as well as the programs you’re promoting: employee engagement software.

Employee engagement software helps you keep track of employee donations, volunteering opportunities, automatic payroll deductions, grant requests, and more.

Let’s turn back to those employee engagement ideas we discussed earlier:

Matching Gift Programs and Employee Engagement Software

When you invest in software that helps you regulate your matching gift program, you’ll make it easier for employees to get their donations matched for any eligible nonprofit. This makes them more likely to participate and feel engaged with your company as a result.

Employee engagement software helps manage your matching gift program by:

• Allowing you to review or automatically approve matching gift requests that meet your company’s guidelines
• Helping you track employee donations and measure overall impact
• Tracking your goals and overall CSR-related progress

All of these features give your company a bigger picture of the impact you can make.

Corporate Volunteerism and Employee Engagement Software

Employee engagement software can also regulate your volunteer opportunities. The easier it is for employees to provide you with their volunteer activity information, the more likely they will be to participate in your volunteer program.

For example, employee engagement software helps manage your volunteer program by:

• Allowing your company to find or create new volunteer events
• Making it easy for employees to track their volunteer hours
• Helping you track and approve volunteer grant requests

Volunteering consists of many juggling tasks, but when you use software to streamline the tracking and approval process, you’ll save your team and your company a lot of headache.

4. What are some additional employee engagement resources?

Your employee engagement efforts shouldn’t stop here! Now that you have a basic understanding of how employee engagement works, check out these additional resources:

• Workplace Giving: The Guide for Nonprofits and Companies. Looking to learn more about workplace giving programs? Check out our guide!
• How Corporate Volunteer Grants Increase Employee Engagement. Intrigued by volunteer grants and employee engagement? We’ve built on that information here.
• Increase Employee Engagement With Corporate Giving. Corporate giving programs do a lot to increase employee engagement. Learn how in this guide.

In this day and age, companies are diving deeper into social good. This is largely due to the rise of corporate social responsibility (CSR), which reflects a company’s efforts toward improving society.

It’s through these efforts that corporate social responsibility programs are created. And one of the biggest programs to come from CSR is workplace giving.

The impact of workplace giving isn’t limited to companies, however. Nonprofit organizations all over the world benefit from CSR initiatives, with workplace giving at the forefront. So if you’re part of a nonprofit organization and you’re wondering why you should care about workplace giving strategies, this guide is a great place to start. Likewise, if you work for a company trying to implement or enhance its workplace giving program, this article will be a great resource for you, too.

Both companies and nonprofits should be focusing on workplace giving—it’s a key driver of success from both ends. That’s why we’re going to cover the following topics:

1. What is workplace giving?
2. What are the benefits of workplace giving for companies?
3. What are the benefits of workplace giving for nonprofits?
4. What are the benefits of workplace giving for employees?
5. How can companies implement and maintain workplace giving programs?
6. What are some additional workplace giving resources?

Workplace giving can have a huge impact on society as a whole, benefiting nonprofits all over the globe. But there’s more to it than that. Let’s get started.

1. What is workplace giving?

Workplace giving is a company-sponsored program that provides its employees with the opportunity to financially support nonprofit organizations.

Through workplace giving, employees can make charitable donations to the nonprofits they care about. 

Workplace giving is an umbrella term, which means it takes many forms when it comes to supporting organizations. One of the most common types of workplace giving programs is payroll deductions, through which employees automatically deduct a portion of their paycheck to a charity of their choice.

Payroll deductions and other similar workplace giving programs can result in a larger number of donations to nonprofits. For example, when multiple employees across several companies choose to give part of their paycheck to the same nonprofit, that nonprofit will amass a large amount of funds and support.

But workplace giving extends beyond this. In fact, diversifying workplace giving is one of the best ways a company can get their employees to participate. When you don’t limit them to one or two giving options, employees have the freedom to choose how they want to give and actively take part in the process as a result.

As part of workplace giving, companies can choose to:

• Match donations. Corporate matching gift programs are a form of workplace giving in which companies financially match donations their employees make to nonprofits. When paired with other workplace giving campaigns where employees financially support nonprofits, those donations are essentially doubled.
• Offer volunteer grants. For employees who might not be able to donate financially, they can still donate their time. Employees who volunteer on a regular basis with a nonprofit can submit a volunteer grant request to their employer. This means the nonprofit will receive a set amount of money based on the number of hours the employee committed to them.
• Participate in annual giving. During the year-end giving season (generally October through December), donation numbers are even higher than all year round. Many companies run seasonal giving campaigns, encouraging employees to set up automatic payroll deductions to give to nonprofits of their choice, and then matching those donations.

Corporate matching gifts are arguably the most effective and important giving channel to focus on as both a company and nonprofit. Most companies match at a 1:1 ratio (a dollar for a dollar), but ratios can range from .5:1 to 4:1. Many companies also match donations to a wide range of organizations, with few restrictions.

So when nonprofits tap into workplace giving, corporate matching gifts should be something they actively pursue. And when employees give through their employers, matching gifts can maximize their impact.

Workplace giving can be enhanced by any of the programs we’ve already mentioned. But the most important thing to remember is when companies offer multiple ways to give to charities, employees will be more likely to participate in the first place.

2. What are the benefits of workplace giving for companies?

Beyond the social good workplace giving promotes all around, there are specific benefits for companies. When it comes to employee engagement, a company’s employees tend to be happier working for companies that support generous giving initiatives. Employees have a longer tenure with those companies, which then benefits the company because of its higher retention rates and money saved from low employee turnover.

Apart from internal benefits, companies also maintain a positive public image in the communities in which they operate. Consumers are more likely to buy products and services from companies that encourage workplace giving.

Your company has spent a lot of time and energy setting up its workplace giving program, and it’s obvious that many benefits come with this. But beyond having an effective workplace giving program, it should also be easy for your employees to participate. After all, the more your employees take part in workplace giving, the happier they’ll be.

For that reason, finding software that makes participating in workplace giving easy can help you get the most out of your program. Read more about workplace giving software solutions below!

3. What are the benefits of workplace giving for nonprofits?

It’s obvious that workplace giving campaigns help nonprofits financially. But the benefits go deeper than that. 

When companies emphasize corporate matching gifts and other workplace giving programs, nonprofits benefit tremendously. This is because:

• Workplace giving builds stronger relationships between nonprofits and companies/employees.
• Long-term relationships between nonprofits and companies lead to ongoing partnerships and corporate sponsorships for the nonprofit’s events and programs.
• All of this support means nonprofits can better serve their constituents and their missions.

Nonprofits also save time and resources by participating in workplace giving programs. They can receive gifts in a cost-efficient way without spending more time soliciting donations. Instead, that time can go to doing good.

When companies do everything they can to encourage employees to participate in workplace giving programs, nonprofits will get more than just monetary support. They’ll become part of a larger community that helps them reach their goals and keeps their organization running.

4. What are the benefits of workplace giving for employees?

Workplace giving doesn’t just benefit companies and nonprofits. As previously mentioned, companies that participate in workplace giving maintain a higher employee engagement rate and lower turnover. So let’s look specifically at how workplace giving programs can further benefit employees:

• Employees give to reputable charities. One of the benefits of workplace giving—especially for employees—is that they can be certain they’re giving to reputable organizations. Generally, workplace giving programs carefully screen the nonprofits that participate according to strict guidelines. This means employees can rest assured their donations are going to a good cause.
• Employees give in smaller increments. Employees who might not be able to donate a large sum at once can benefit from automatic payroll deductions. The smaller amounts deducted from each paycheck will add up over time, and when paired with a matching gift from their employer, they can make a real impact.
• Employees make a larger impact overall. Even if employees are only able to donate in small increments, their gifts combine with thousands of employees across the country to those nonprofits. That money is also unrestricted—meaning it’s not meant for a specific purpose and can be used in any way by the organization. The fewer restrictions in place, the greater the impact.

There are many reasons why workplace giving matters, and for employees, being able to donate effectively to worthy causes is a big one.

5. How can companies implement and maintain workplace giving programs?

For companies, implementing and keeping up with their workplace giving programs is crucial to their success. If a company doesn’t have a set process in place for tracking matching gifts, volunteer grant requests, payroll deduction options, and other components of their giving programs, those tasks can quickly become tedious and disorganized.

That’s why many companies invest in workplace giving solutions to effectively track each task, their CSR initiatives, their goals, and any pending requests. There are many types of workplace giving platforms, so be sure to look for tools that meet your company’s needs.

More specifically, if you’re running a matching gift, volunteer grant, or payroll deduction program, below are some key features to look for in your workplace giving solution:

• Centralized employee donation tracking
• Streamlined approval process for nonprofit types, donation matches, and volunteer grants
• Volunteer event setup and management
• Volunteer hour tracking
• Payroll integration

When you choose workplace giving software that offers the tools you need to manage each component of your giving program, it’ll be much easier for your employees to get involved and for your company to track your overall CSR initiatives and progress.

How can companies actively promote workplace giving programs?

The best thing a company can do to promote workplace giving—and to help nonprofits in the process—is to educate their employees.

Feature your workplace giving programs in employee onboarding materials. More specifically, you should highlight:

• Matching gift programs
• Volunteer grant opportunities
• Payroll deductions
• Paid time off to volunteer
• Other opportunities to support nonprofits

Educating your employees from the start and offering reminders throughout the year (or even through a year-end giving campaign) will keep your CSR initiatives at the forefront of your company culture.

Of course, it’s always a good practice to get feedback on your workplace giving programs, especially from employees. This will help you determine whether your program is accessible and effective for those who work within your company. Send out surveys and even allow employees to vote on the types of nonprofits or causes they want to support (or the types of workplace giving programs they want to see).

When companies take charge and contribute to the greater good, nonprofits can benefit immensely. But the effectiveness of a workplace giving program depends on how the company implements it, how they promote it, and how they maintain it at all times.

6. What are some additional workplace giving resources?

Hopefully this guide has served as a helpful start to learning more about workplace giving. Whether you’re part of a company or nonprofit, the benefits of taking part in workplace giving programs are endless.

If you want to do some further reading, we’ve compiled a few of our favorite resources below:

• How Corporate Volunteer Grants Increase Employee Engagement. Volunteering is a huge component of workplace giving. Learn how to boost employee engagement with this article!
• 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Employee Giving Programs. Want to focus on employee giving specifically? Here are 10 things you might not know about employee giving programs.
• Matching Gift Software Vendors: The Comprehensive List. Looking for corporate vendors that are tailored specifically to nonprofits or companies? Check out our list.